Sweet Southern Bad Boy

by Michele Summers

  “General—”

  “Call me Chuck. Not much use for titles around here.”

  “Maybe not. But from what I’ve heard, you served our country long and hard. The title is well deserved.”

  He gave a dismissive shrug of his broad shoulders. “What were you going to say?”

  “Would you like to see pictures of your grandkids? I have some great ones on my iPad.” Katie held her breath, afraid she’d overstepped and he’d reach for the shotgun leaning in the corner. He finished his barbecue sandwich and brushed his hands over his plate. Katie played with the napkin in her lap, waiting.

  Finally, he nodded. “That’d be real nice. Let’s sit where it’s more comfortable.”

  Settled on his plaid sofa, Katie opened her iPad and scrolled through the images she’d taken of Harmony and landed on the ones of his kids. “That’s Dover. He’s a handful, says whatever comes to mind. But he loves to read.”

  Chuck leaned forward and stared as if fascinated. “What grade is he in now?”

  “Kinder. And that’s Donald, and he’s in second. Smart, and likes to take charge. You can’t turn your back on those two rascals for a second. Not only are they bright, but they’re fast. They wear me out. But this one”—she tapped the screen—“this little angel thinks she’s a boy. She’s going to tie her brothers up in knots when she gets bigger.” Katie laughed at a picture of Dana Sue, with yellow paint smeared on her face and in her hair, squeezing the life out of Lollipop.

  Chuck laughed and reached for the iPad, holding it close as he studied the pictures of Danny and her brothers, shaking his head. “They’ve gotten so big. I remember when Donald was born. I was afraid to hold him. Thought I might crush him or drop him.”

  “You don’t seem clumsy to me. I bet you did just fine. Didn’t you hold your own boys when they were babies?”

  His mouth formed a grim line as he continued to scroll through the pictures. “Wasn’t around. I was stationed in the Middle East for the first years of the boys’ lives.” He stopped scrolling when he landed on the picture of Vance leaning against the column. Chuck’s dark eyes went cold and flat.

  “Here…let me show you something clever.” Katie took the iPad and scrolled to the jigsaw puzzles of the kids, hoping to lighten his mood. “Look, you can make puzzles of the pictures and then try and put the pieces back together. Isn’t that neat?”

  “How did you do that?” he asked and seemed genuinely interested.

  “A friend of mine in California sent me the program. Try it. Play with this one of all three kids.” Chuck tapped the screen with his index finger, but the image kept jumping and changing in size. “It’s more fun on a laptop. Sometimes iPads can get wonky. I can bring my laptop next time, and you’ll have more control.”

  “I have a laptop. Can you send me the puzzles?”

  “Sure. I can make them hard or easy. I’ve made a few easy ones for the kids, but I think you might like more of a challenge.”

  Chuck leaned back and fixed Katie with his military stare, precise and knowing. Straightening her shoulders, she squashed the desire to salute. She’d been on the grill more times than she’d like to remember, but she’d never received a dressing-down from a general, and she didn’t want one now.

  “You’re full of surprises and hidden talents, aren’t you?”

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean,” Katie said, sounding scared and unsure to her own ears.

  “What does my son Vance think of you?”

  Beach blanket bingo. Besides the physical lust…she had no idea. “I wouldn’t know. But relieved is one word that comes to mind. He’s glad to have someone help with the kids so he can get back to his writing.”

  A dark scowl ruled Chuck’s features at the mention of Vance’s books. She wished she could do or say something to bridge the mammoth gap between the two men. But not knowing their full history put her at a huge disadvantage. “General…I know it’s none of my business, but what happened between you and your son?” At his fierce frown, Katie inched as far away as the sofa arm would allow. And yet her mouth kept babbling. “It just seems you’re only punishing yourself by not spending time with your grandkids. Before you know it, they’ll be grown and gone.”

  Chuck abruptly stood and moved toward…not the shotgun! Katie’s breath released in a whoosh when he stopped in front of the stone fireplace and stared into its black opening. “You been spending too much time with that nosy, meddling, smart aleck Dottie Duncan. Don’t let her fill your head with a bunch of nonsense.”

  “Dottie’s not filling my head with anything. I’m basing this on pure observation. You’re holding a grudge and hurting yourself and your grandkids. Don’t you think it’s time to let it go?” Katie stood and gathered up her personal items. The fact that Chuck hadn’t reached for his shotgun made her bold and careless. “The war’s over, General. Time to lay down your arms and make peace.”

  A harsh, cracking sound split the air. Startled, Katie looked up at his attempt to laugh. “Don’t tell me you’ve been reading my illustrious son’s books.”

  She shook her head slowly. “No, but I hear they’re quite good. I don’t know if they’re based on fact or fiction. But I do know you’ve retired from the military, and it looks like you’ve retired from life along with it.”

  Katie clutched her iPad to her chest at the narrowing of his eyes. She’d been bold enough for one day, and her heart was starting to race straight up her throat. “I need to be going,” she managed to croak as she sidestepped her way toward the door, keeping him in her sights. “Thanks for lunch…”

  “We’ll do it again tomorrow.” Katie gripped the cold, bronze doorknob and glanced over her shoulder. “And, Katie…bring a copy of my son’s latest books when you come. That’s an order.”

  Chapter 13

  So here’s the thing…if you’re going to be bold and speak your mind, you need to be able to do it without breaking out in a cold sweat while your heart tries to hammer its way through your chest and your throat closes up so tight you can’t swallow. Still shaking from her conversation with General Kerner, Katie fished through layers of tissue paper. Her new clothes had arrived. She wound and rewound the conversation in her head, adding lines and deleting others, berating herself for bringing up the taboo topic. What had she been thinking? She couldn’t fix her own screwed up life—what made her think she could fix Vance and his dad’s?

  Katie stole a few precious moments to try on her new wardrobe while the kids watched a movie before bedtime. Vance still hadn’t returned home. She couldn’t imagine an appointment with an attorney taking this long, but maybe she’d have a signed contract, or at least a revised one, to present to her dad later tonight.

  She wiggled a short, tight, smoky-blue dress over her head and down her hips, adjusting the draped neckline over her breasts. Katie wasn’t too sure about the fit, pressing her palms to her stomach. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d worn anything quite this tight. But Inslee assured her the gathered ruching around the middle was flattering for any figure. Katie twisted left and then right in front of the massive, silver-framed mirror leaning against the bathroom wall, trying to picture an occasion where she’d wear this dress.

  “Katie, Danny’s gluing pennies on Lollipop with a glue stick,” Dover said, standing inside her bathroom door.

  Katie touched her hand to her chest. “Goodness. You startled me.” She hoped he hadn’t been standing there watching her wiggle her full hips into this seam-splitting dress.

  Dover tilted his head, wearing a goofy smile. “Wow. You’re pretty…for a girl.”

  Katie swallowed her laugh. “Awww, thanks, buddy. That’s very sweet of you. Come help me rescue Lollipop.” Katie extended her hand and hustled him from the room as quickly as her high-heeled shoes would allow. Danny had indeed managed to stick pennies on Lollipop, who was screeching and hissing. Not good.
Only a matter of seconds before Danny would be sporting red kitty scratches on her tender skin. Katie loosened Danny’s grip, and Lollipop quickly disappeared under the sofa. If Katie had been that cat, she’d stay hidden until these kids turned eighteen and moved away from home.

  “Dana Sue, Lollipop doesn’t like to be decorated with pennies, peanut butter, paint, or anything else you decide to put on her fur. Okay?” Danny nodded her head, avoiding eye contact, which only meant Katie would be delivering this same lecture again and again.

  Checking the time on her watch, Katie said, “Bedtime. Pick up your toys and march upstairs and start brushing your teeth.” The kids grumbled, dragging their feet. “Teamwork. And if you do a good job, I’ll read each of you your favorite story.” Katie clapped her hands. “Look alive!” All three kids scrambled to pick up toys and shove them in the toy baskets. Katie watched them scurry past her and up the stairs to prepare for bed. “I’ll be up in five minutes,” she called after them.

  Katie headed back toward her room to change into something more comfortable—and kid-appropriate—when she heard pounding on the front door. She sighed. Probably another Harmony resident wanting to try out for the miniseries.

  “Coming. Auditions are over for today,” she said and pulled the front door open.

  “Auditions? What the hell is going on around here?”

  Katie’s mouth gaped open. There on the other side of the door stood Tad Poole…all five foot ten and one-hundred and sixty pounds of him. A jolt went through Katie…but not in a good way. Seeing Tad in person after several weeks apart made Katie feel…er…nothing. No tingle of excitement. No wobbly knees or curling toes. Not the way she felt every time Vance came within a mile of her. Instead, she felt a surge of irritation that was starting to make her blood boil.

  “How did you find me? Did my dad send you?” She narrowed her eyes, but Tad ignored the warning.

  He pushed his way into the foyer. “Something is not adding up, and I demand to know what’s going on. You won’t answer my calls, and you keep texting about kids and—dogs—and what are you wearing?” Katie had the pleasure of watching Tad’s pale blue eyes bug out of his head. “I’ve never seen…how…who…what—”

  “What’s the matter? You don’t like it?” Katie twisted her hips side to side, showcasing the snug fit of the dress.

  Tad visibly gulped. “I like it, but it’s just not you. You look…you look ridiculous.” Tad waved his hand at her. “You’re turning into someone I don’t know.” Katie’s shoulders slumped, and the inner feminine power she’d felt only moments earlier leaked from her body. Playing dress up was never going to change anything.

  “And what are you doing in this house? I know for a fact that Vance Kerner lives here, and he has a reputation. With the ladies,” Tad sneered, as if telling Katie something she didn’t already know. “They even say he’s starred in some really bad porn.”

  Oh God. She groaned. Katie didn’t appreciate Tad spreading rumors about the porn, even though a twinge of guilt reminded her how they’d started. “False. There’s no truth to the porn rumors. And why are you here grilling me? Are you spying on me? Last time I checked, you were casting recruiter, recruiting agents looking for talent.” And kissing my dad’s butt along the way.

  “I’ve been promoted…to location manager…”

  Alarm bells went off inside Katie’s head. Location manager meant only one thing…Katie would be working directly under Tad as location scout. There might’ve been a time in the not so distant past when she would’ve welcomed this situation. But not now. Not today. And not here.

  Planting her fists on her hips, she said, “How convenient. What did you promise my dad this time? Part ownership in your thoroughbred running in the next California Cup Derby?” Walter McKnight had held a fascination with horse racing for as long as she could remember, and the fact that Tad’s family owned several racehorses had certainly enhanced Tad’s standing with McKnight Studios.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, not quite meeting her eyes. Splotches of red showed on his cheeks. Tad buying his way into McKnight Studios gave Katie a sick, twisted feeling. Working there may not be right for her, but she didn’t trust this alliance forging between her dad and Tad. Katie made a mental note to speak with her brothers.

  “And that’s not the point. You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here…in this house. I have a right to know,” Tad pushed.

  “What she’s doing here is none of your damn business. In fact, you need to leave so she can continue to do it.”

  Katie whirled around at the sound of Vance’s deep voice. He’d come through the kitchen and stood in the middle of the dining room, looking a lot like a dark avenging angel. A jolt went through Katie. This time her breath caught, and her heart skipped several beats.

  “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting all day,” she blurted before she could stop and think.

  “Katie! This is an outrage. I demand you leave with me right now.” Tad tugged on her elbow. “If you come with me, I won’t breathe a word of this to your father.”

  Suddenly Katie was being yanked in the opposite direction, straight into Vance’s rock-hard chest. Unable to control herself, she took a long whiff. His smell was intoxicating. Like outdoors and clean cotton.

  “Look, slick, Katie’s not going anywhere…especially with you,” Vance growled in his don’t-mess-with-me-or-I’ll-kick-your-ass voice. Vance wrapped his heavy arm in a protective way around her shoulder, and Katie couldn’t help but snuggle into him before moving away. Only Vance wouldn’t let her go. His hold tightened, and Katie secretly reveled in his macho protective act.

  “You stay out of this, Kerner.” Tad made an aggressive step but stopped short. Vance’s expression was about as welcoming as a pit of rattlesnakes.

  “Um…guys?” Katie wiggled out from under Vance’s arm. “This is not the time or place—”

  “Kay-tee, I want story,” Danny interrupted as she hurried down the stairs in her fuzzy pink kitten pj’s.

  “You promised,” Dover added right behind her. The boys held several books in their hands. At the sight of their squeaky-clean faces, her heart squeezed…in a good way. And it dawned on her that she would miss these kids something fierce when she finally pulled out of Harmony and headed for the West Coast.

  For the second time that evening, Tad’s eyes bugged out over the kids, and he started to sputter. “What the…? Your new family, I presume?” His voice took on that supercilious tone she’d always hated.

  Suddenly Katie felt very tired…and used. “It’s not what you think, Tad.” Although she kind of wished it was. Vance gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, lending her his strength and support. She blinked at him in surprise, wanting nothing more than to let him handle everything.

  “Go on up and start reading to the kids. I’ll be there in just a minute. Need to clean up a few things first.” And by clean up, Katie knew he didn’t mean the kitty litter box. Unless he planned to use Tad as the scooper.

  “Katie, don’t you dare leave…we are not finished, and I deserve—”

  “What you think you deserve and what you’re gonna get are two different things, pal,” Vance warned in his scary pirate voice. Katie hesitated for a second, but Vance gave her an encouraging nod. That was all she needed to get away from her irrational ex-boyfriend and the man she was becoming attached to like bark on a tree.

  * * *

  Vance watched Katie hustle the kids up the stairs. The backside view she presented in the amazing, sexy dress almost had him following her up and forgetting the petulant dickhead who still stood in his foyer as if he owned the place. Ungluing his eyes from Katie’s wonderfully curvaceous bottom, he gave Tad Pole his meanest badass stare. The one he’d learned from hours of watching war films.

  “Outside. Now,” he ordered in his best military voice.

  “Just a m
inute. I’m Katie’s fiancé, and I have a right—” Vance herded Tad out front before he could finish his rant, closing the door behind them.

  “Bullshit. There’s no ring on her finger. Who are you, anyway?”

  Tad Puff straightened his scrawny shoulders and lifted his nonexistent chin. “I’m Tad Poole the Third. My father is—”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass who your father is. What I want to know is what you’re really doing here.” The fine hairs on the back of Vance’s neck prickled. This smacked of underhanded maneuvering by Walter McKnight. Vance had spent the better half of the day talking to Katie’s father, reassuring him that he would hold up his end of the bargain. The one where he purposely lied to Katie about using his house and about her daddy wanting her off the job after only a few short weeks. But Vance got the sense Walter never left anything to chance, and Tad Poodle must be his minion, here to do his bidding.

  “Look, Kerner, you want the truth? I was sent by Walter McKnight to secure the location he wanted in Wilmington. Katie blew it. But Katie doesn’t know that, and you’re not going to tell her. I know all about the deal between you and Walter.”

  Bingo. Vance struck an easy pose, arms crossed over his chest, but he was feeling anything but relaxed. He didn’t need this shit today of all days. His defenses were down, and his emotions were bubbling near the surface. After convincing Walter he would stick to the shitty bargain, Vance had spent the other half of his day sitting with Adam Reynolds, in Starbucks, watching Adam swig black coffee with a shaky hand, and listening to him relive a particularly haunting memory. When he’d first met Adam, Vance had listened to his stories for the sake of research, but as Vance grew to know the vet he started listening for another reason altogether. In some small way, Vance thought by listening and showing support, maybe he could ease Adam’s pain. Something he was never able to do for his own dad.

  “You’re not exactly in a great position either, bud. I’d watch those threats you like to throw around,” Vance said. He wasn’t above using his height and size to tower over Tad Puny. “It’s obvious you don’t exactly have her back.” Neither did he, but he couldn’t think about that right now. She was here, and he planned to keep her as long as possible.